


Franklin vs Bash

by rethrin



Category: Franklin & Bash
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-20
Updated: 2011-07-20
Packaged: 2017-11-10 22:19:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/471318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rethrin/pseuds/rethrin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He scoops one arm under Jared's waist, dropping onto the bed and pulling Jared close in one fluid movement.  Jared smiles, feeling tension flood out of his body.  He rubs his head against Peter's chest by way of greeting, tugs the cover out from between them, and pulls it over Peter, threading his arms around his partner.  Or his friend, if they're not exactly partners just at the moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Franklin vs Bash

**Author's Note:**

> This is set somewhere in the middle of Franklin vs Bash, although it doesn't properly fit into the actual timeline of canon.

Jared can't sleep. He's considering getting up to stare angrily at the case files rather than blankly at the wall when his door opens. Peter doesn't say anything, just closes the door quietly behind him and crosses over to the bed. He scoops one arm under Jared's waist, dropping onto the bed and pulling Jared close in one fluid movement. Jared smiles, feeling tension flood out of his body. He rubs his head against Peter's chest by way of greeting, tugs the cover out from between them, and pulls it over Peter, threading his arms around his partner. Or his friend, if they're not exactly partners just at the moment.

"Hey," he says, suddenly sleepy for the first time in days.

"I'm sleeping here tonight."

Jared nods gently against Peter's chest, he's got that and isn't arguing. Except he argues a little bit because it's probably expected.

"If you think you're going to wheedle my strategy out of me while I'm here all soft and sleepy . . . " you can't because I haven't worked one out yet, was the only place that sentence was ending up, but Peter's whole body has stiffened, he's holding Jared tight, his fingers gripping Jared's t-shirt in a fist, and Jared stops, confused. Peter's heartbeat is high, his breathing isn't calm so much as forcibly steady. His teeth are clenched. Jared swallows. "You okay?"

Peter nods once, and Jared hears his breath hitch. When he speaks it's a whisper, "I just want to sleep here." 

Jared feels a little something fall inside him, Peter should tease him, and should smile at him, and he is doing neither of those things and hasn't for days, and his voice is cold. Still, he's here in bed, Jared can work with that. He wonders if something happened with Janie when he'd seen Peter talking to her at court. Peter doesn't always tell him when things happen with her.

Jared's body has reacted to Peter without thinking, pressing closer immediately. One hand reached up to the nape of his neck, stroking through the soft hair there. His other arm clamped around Peter's waist, holding him just as tightly as he can. Jared turns his head into Peter's shoulder, cuddles against him. Peter's still tense, but Jared can wait him out. He strokes his hair again.

It takes a few minutes before Peter speaks.

"If I drop the case, Amber gets a new lawyer, will we be okay again?" His words come out in a rush, and Jared seems to be thinking through treacle because it takes him an age to work out how much is wrong with that sentence.

"What? We're already okay, what are you talking about?" 

Peter dips his head, and his voice is barely there, "Are we?"

The question turns Jared's stomach over. He tries to push a bit of distance between them, leaning back so that he can see Peter's face in the dim light.

"Peter," he says, feeling furious, but somehow sounding pathetic. He struggles for a second, wanting to shove at him for being ridiculous, and shake him for being an idiot, but not knowing what might actually help. "We've fought worse than this before. You know that; you were there. How can you even . . ?"

But Peter's shaking his head, eyes closed, and his fingers are digging into Jared's arm. 

"I know. But we can leave Infeld's. If you want. We can just be us again. Or we can go somewhere and be someone else. If you want. You know? If you just don't hate me."

Jared stares at him, and his face has grown suddenly heavy, and he doesn't know how to hold it, and he doesn't know if Peter is joking, because this is so wrong. He touches Peter's shoulder, and then his chest, and then pulls his hand away, because he feels like an idiot, fluttering around his best friend. He tries to breathe steadily. 

"What are you talking about? Infeld's was weeks ago. We're not fighting about that." 

They hadn't really fought about that at all. Jared likes it at Infeld's, and Peter knows it. He likes their office, and their cases, and sitting next to Peter in board meetings. And he'd said things he hadn't meant but Peter had known he didn't mean them, so that didn't count. And it had been weeks ago anyway.

"You're sure?" 

"Yes, I'm sure. We're fighting because you . . . because . . . we're not fighting about that. We're fine. Just stop being weird."

Peter lets out a shaky breath and Jared feels him relax a little. He rests his head on top of Jared's, and his hands stroke quietly over his shoulder, his back. And that would feel really good, except for the cold spot inside Jared that is confused and ~~terrified~~ worried because Peter's going through something and he doesn't even know what, hadn't noticed it was there.

Before Jared even thinks about what he's doing, he's turned his head and kissed Peter's throat. Low, near his collar bone. 

Kissing is not something they do, but he doesn't know anything else he can do, and getting all serious about a stupid fight isn't something they do either, so really Peter started it. Peter barely reacts, he swallows and his hand on Jared's shoulder kind of squeezes. Jared has time to think about it this time, but thinks what the hell and kisses him again, just the same, but for a little longer. Pressing against Peter's skin, he feels the pulse under his lips like a jolt right through him.

"I'd never hate you." Jared's lips move against Peter's skin. Calling it a whisper is probably making it more than it is, but he has to say it. Even though it's the stupidest thing he's ever said in his life, because if Peter doesn't know that then nothing's even real.

And now Peter curves a hand around the back of Jared's neck and strokes him there. He moves Jared just a little, so that he can bend and press a kiss onto his forehead, right at his hairline. The kiss is brief, and sort of breathy, and switches Jared's smile on full force. Peter half laughs and Jared squeezes him so tight, breathing out and stroking his hand down Peter's side. 

"You're an idiot," Jared says, but softly. 

"Yeah," Peter sounds quite relieved about that. "I just thought you were-- you looked at me the other day and I thought-- and then you didn't come home tonight, and-- It felt like it was worse than other times and I didn't know-- We're good?"

Jared nods firmly. "We're unbeatable. You want me to write it down for you?"

Peter kisses the top of Jared's head again and it shoots straight into Jared's chest. He wonders if that's going to happen a lot now and snuggles closer. He's warm and tired, and Peter smells really good. He's never really noticed that before. He wants to sink into sleep and breathe him in all night, and then he wants to wake up tomorrow and spend the whole day making him smile. But he knows he can't, not with this case they're in.

"I'm sorry," Peter says simply, and Jared knows he means for this, not for the fight itself.

"It's okay. Stupid. But okay."

"The way you looked at me Jare, it was like--" Peter fights for a word, "It was like how you look at your dad when you're fighting. I thought--"

Jared screws up his face in disbelief, but because this is serious, he thinks about it for a minute instead of just turning it away with a joke.

"I guess maybe partly we were fighting about my dad," he says, reluctantly.

"Yeah?" 

Peter moves back a little, giving Jared space that he doesn't really want. He can see worry in Peter's eyes, but warmth too, and Peter's hand is resting on his side, warm through his t-shirt and sometimes Peter's thumb strokes against him, and that feels pretty good. Like it's recharging him, after days of Peter being the other side of the room at best.

"I think maybe I was sort of fighting with my dad, like I was really mad at him but he wasn't here, and you were. But you were sort of fighting with Janie. You were acting like I'd done something to you, something big and awful." Like marrying someone else. He doesn't need to say that, Peter tilts his head in understanding. "Which I would never do."

Peter just nods, because that kind of makes sense.

"I didn't mean to make you -" Jared cuts off, not altogether sure how to describe whatever just happened.

Peter nods again and they smile at each other for a second, each questioning if there's anything else that needs saying and deciding there isn't. Jared's smile grows as Peter finally pulls him closer again, rearranging the covers over them both. 

"So, am I allowed to go to sleep now? Because I have to get up early and kick your ass in court. Again," Jared says.

"Kay." Peter's voice is soft and warm and right again. "Just so I know, are you planning on being me again in court? Because you have to know I can out me you."

"You can't out you me. I'm the most you there is. I'm perfect, I'm all your cute in a handy travel size. The jury love me." Jared's voice is slightly muffled, because he's burying his face in Peter's shoulder again.

"Two of them tried to make a pass at me yesterday, and at least six of them are dreaming about me right now."

"Which will give me a perfect case for a mistrial."

"I don't think setting a precedent for dismissing juries that _like me_ is a road you're willing to take. Career-wise it would kind of screw you." 

Jared shrugs. "Okay. Well, I'll think of something." 

He thinks he might kiss Peter again. But he doesn't want to unbalance anything, so he doesn't. And then he pretends he hasn't even thought about it because it feels strange. He's too tired to think about anything anyway. He nudges Peter's knee out of his way, and fusses until Peter tilts back a little bit, where Jared likes him.

Peter yawns and strokes his hand softly over Jared's hair. He lies still as his partner makes himself comfortable and quickly drifts into sleep, practically on top of him. He's supposed to be up in a couple of hours, but he stays awake for as long as he can all the same, feeling the last few days fall away from him, listening to Jared breathing, and feeling like a complete idiot for thinking this might have been broken. It's the strongest thing he's ever known.


End file.
